Her light, his fire

10

Suggested Music:
(War of Hearts - Ruelle)

THEN-
Watching Daryl Leave with Negan left panic in my chest, it was the first time we were really apart in what it felt like weeks. I was afraid to leave Daryl with Negan, after what he forced me to do.. I didn't want Daryl doing the same. I hadn't tried to think about that boy since that day.. how could I pretend it didn't happen? I felt a lump in my throat as I sat down on the edge of the bed. That boy.. I didn't even know his name, and his parents. The way his mother screamed, it reminded me of how I screamed when the governor killed my father, how Maggie screamed when.. I stopped my thoughts from going to that blurry place, every time my head would spin when I tried to put the pieces together. From how little Daryl spoke about it I knew what happened.. I knew Glenn was dead, Abraham too. I fiddled with my charm bracelet and took in a shaky breath, please be safe Daryl.. I thought. A knock came from the door that threw me out of my thoughts. I hadn't noticed I was crying, but I was. I quickly wiped them away and walked towards the door, I slowly cracked it open and noticed the brown haired woman. The same woman me and Daryl had ran into along the road, we had helped them hide from the saviors, she was with Dwight.. Then they turned on us, stole Daryl's bike and a couple of other stuff. "Hi.." she whispered her arms behind her back holding something.

NOW-
I began to open my eyes awaking from my sleep, my body slowly lifted itself as my eyes began to focus, looking around the room, the candles were still lit and the dark was still around. I didn't know what woke me but something did, then I heard it. The sound of walkers growling. I quickly blew out the candles as I pushed myself up on my feet throwing my boot on my right foot, I picked up the stick and began to quietly walk towards a window, I took a peep out the blinds. My heart stopped, a walker stood just below the porch staring at the house, it didn't growl, didn't move. Just stood there examining the house. I quickly flew away from the window as I grabbed all the stuff shoving it into my
book bag, the food, candles, crow bar, and a sheet.
I had to stay quiet, I began to try to open the backdoor but the planks sealed it shut, I went over to the back window and looked at the loose planks. I began to pull at it, the noise filling the silent air in the room. I stopped, listened, and waited. The growls still close, maybe even closer. My nails dug into the planks as it began to lift, then there was a thump against the front door. It caused my hair to stand up. "In... here...." something growled. I had to leave. I yanked up the crowbar and began prying the planks off the window, the thumbing getting louder at the door, I threw the planks across the ground as I threw my bag on my back and slipped through the back window, I could see a group of walkers coming around from the front towards me, I stumbled across the ashes of a burnt shed in the backyard as I headed for the trees only a mile ahead. "There... she... is." A walker growled. I felt fear, they were talking. The dead were talking, I didn't understand how, I was used to walkers the way they looked, smelt, I was becoming less afraid of them, but this. This changed that comfort feeling of knowing just to aim for the head and don't get bite, this put the fear back in me as I pushed myself to get as far as I could. There had to been about twenty of them. I felt the pain of my ankle rising as I had reached for balance from the tree, pushing myself off, and onto another, trying to keep up my pace, putting as much distance as I could, but they were close, closer then I wanted. I felt the panic begin to rise, i couldn't be caught by them.

My body was giving up on me, the night moon was the only light leading my way through the woods, my body heavily relying on the foundation of the trees to keep me pushing, I was forcing myself to keep going, the branches and leaves under my feet crushing. I suddenly felt my leg completely give up, my whole body flying forward, into the mixture of grass, dirt, and leaves. I winced in pain as I tried to catch myself, my elbow digging into the ground, my arm scrapping across a couple of sticks, my ankle completely throbbing. I slowly lifted my head as I heard a snap of a twig come from in front of me, a man holding his gun towards my head, I froze completely still as a woman rushed up beside him, shinning a flashlight on my face. "Beth?" She said as she recognized my blue eyes peering up at her, my blond hair now cropped to my shoulders spread across my face, the scars on my cheek, across my left forehead and the color of my milky skin. I went to speak but nothing came out, my eyes felt heavy, my heart racing in my chest, all I felt was the sudden feeling of being dizzy, "Shh.." she said placing her finger over her lip as we heard the growls. Then my body fell forward, hitting the ground falling unconscious . "We've gotta get out of here, I got you.. were going to get you home." A voice whispered picking me up off the ground, two bodies beside me, carrying me.

THEN-
"If you want to take anything else from us, I'm sorry, we have nothing left." I sarcastically said. "We were desperate." She said. "I'd like to make it up to you." She uncovered what she had hidden, Daryl's crossbow. "How'd you get that?" I asked looking over the bow, he had taught me to use when it was just us, I knew what it meant to him. It was the last thing he's had since the very beginning, the last thing that reminded him where he came from. "Dwight have it to me." She said holding it out for me to take. "Why are you doing this?" I asked as I took the crossbow. "Many reasons." She said as she looked down the hall. "Can we talk?" She asked. I looked down the hall checking to see if it was clear. "About what?" I asked. "Leavin'." She said. "Why should I trust you?" I asked. "Because I'm leaving too." She whispered, her eyes seem to be pleading for my help and for some reason I believed her. I wanted to get Daryl out of here, the longer we were away from our people the more I felt like we were never getting out of here. I slowly nodded my head. "Okay." I said. I closed the door behind me as she began leading me down a hall, we went up a couple stairs the entered a room, it was large and very clean, there were a group of five woman sitting on the bed that sat in the middle of the room, they were all wearing black dresses similar to Sherry's, I had heard the rumors that they were Negan's 'wives'. "What is this?" I asked as Sherry went to sit with them, they all looked at me. Some of their faces were familiar, Angel, Kate, Sherry, the blonde female, but the other two were new faces. "Beth as long as you and Daryl are here, y'all are not safe." Angel said standing up and walking towards me. "None of us are." She said standing beside me looking over the girls faces. "We all married him to save ourselves, to help the people around us.. we know what Negans capable of. He'll do whatever he can to get what he wants." Kate said standing up. "He did it to Chris, my ex husband." She walked over to the right of me and stood beside me. "We want what you want, to be done with this." The blonde said, she stood, walked over to me, and stood beside Angel. Leaving Sherry and the unfamiliar girl left on the bed. "And the only way! The only way to stop all of this, is if we kill him." She uncrossed her skinny legs and took a stand, she swayed her way over and stood behind me. Then Sherry was left, Sherry opened her arms wide. "We can help each other." She said. She tapped on the bed as the girls all began to softly lead me to it. I slowly sat on the bed as they stood over me, I was beginning to understand what they were asking me to do. Negan was infatuated with me, I knew that. They all looked down at me as I tried to understand what they were truly asking me to do. "If I help you? You'll help us leave?" I asked. "If you help us." Sherry said. "Help us kill Negan." Angel said.